Menu

Clint Eastwood

I had the opportunity of a lifetime a few days ago, so I decided to write a bit about it. Clint Eastwood, my favorite actor/director, chose a ballpark and a bar in my hometown as locations to shoot scenes for an upcoming movie he is starring in. I knew I had to try and figure out a way to get in the middle of the activities. The following are my experiences. I had forgotten about any calls that might have gone out for extras in either location, assuming that they had enough people this close to shooting. This past Wednesday was the start of shooting at the bar, which is a couple of minutes from my house. Curiosity got the better of me and I drove by a couple of times to check things out. No luck. Everything was closed off and it was clear that nobody would be able to get near the place. Strike one. Fast forward to Wednesday evening. A friend who knew about the filming asked me if I had signed up as an extra for the scenes at the ballpark Thursday. I told her I had not, guessing that they had enough people. She told me to send my information in. I did and was promptly told that I was in and to show up on Thursday. I was very excited. One reason for my excitement was because I had never been a part of a movie. The second was that this was a Clint Eastwood movie. In my mind, when it comes to film actors/directors, there is Clint Eastwood and then everyone else. I love everything he has ever done, period. Could I possibly get to meet Clint Eastwood? Unfortunately, I did not get the chance. But I did have a fun experience. I spent from roughly 3:30-11:00 at the ballpark for the scene, along with a couple hundred other extras. Two or three camera angles included me in the background, so it will be interesting to see if they use any of the film I was in for the final cut of the movie. For about twenty minutes of the day, Eastwood was actually in the ballpark filming his scenes, but I was far enough away that I couldn’t actually tell he was there. I just heard other people saying so after seeing a lot more lights and cameras behind home plate all of a sudden. Even though I didn’t get to meet my favorite movie star, it was a fun day. I have been interested in the behind-the-scenes goings on in productions such as this for years. It was interesting watching everything happen on the other side of the camera. I get to check this off of my list of things to do before I die.